I think the boom has already ended. Projects are being closed and deemed non-economic all over the place. It will be back though. Japan is looking at coal fired power plants after it's incidents with nuclear, China and India have massive populations that need growth. The issue is will we have the competitive advantage like we used to or will Indonesia, Mongolia (infrastructure issues) and other Asian and African countries be able to steal some of our market share.
The company i work for that builds mining equipment told us last week we will be closing down is stages between August & February next year & production / building will go overseas. They retrenched us last time in 2008 but now looks like theirs no coming back. Oh well the pay was great while it lasted, hence me going back for seconds after they contacted me & asked if I'd come back. Hope too have found a new job by the end of August. Fabrication is at least 80% cheaper overseas so can't really knock the business sense being applied plus with higher AUD many will follow suit, talking with some suppliers today they confirmed this was indeed happening regularly.
